Magnificent Angkor Wat & Phnom Penh

We had a good chance to visit Cambodia as part of our vacation. We travelled to Siem Reap, saw the Magnificent Angkor Wat together with other temples, travelled further down alongside the Tonle Sap river, spent 1 night in Battambang, then further to Phnom Penh. 






Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
Siem Reap means : the siamese were destroyed. The city was named so since it incurs bad memory amongst Cambodian when their mighty Angkor city was sacked by the Siamese from Thailand. Siem Reap houses the Angkor complex (declared as one of the 7 Wonders) and hence becomes the most important tourist site in Cambodia. Angkor complex itself is as big as the city of Manhattan.
On July 18, 2004, we took Bangkok Airways from Bangkok, the flight took about 1 hour. Willy did not need to apply for Visa for having already had a multiple entry visa, but Visca needed to have one and paid $20. From airport, we went straight to our budget hotel, the Kompol Pich.
The following day, we bought the 3 days pass to Angkor complex at $40 per person. There were also 1 day and one week passess available. We had our tour facilated by a car to be able to see as many temples as possible within 3 days. One thing we saw in most temples was the bare-chested Apsara (heavenly nymph) pictured in most of the walls. In Cambodia, there is also a performance show called Apsara dance in most hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap. Being a temple raiders like us, required a full stamina as most of them needed climbings with very small stairs base. For lunch, we always had it in the Angkor Cafe, located in the complex, average-to-high priced, but were really delicious. Children were everywhere selling anything from food, souvenirs, books about Cambodia/Angkor, and many things.
Below are the key temples we visited in Angkor Complex :
1. Angkor Wat : is the biggest, the most beautiful and the best preserved vs. other temples in the complex. It is a square complex, surrounded by moat. There are 4 gates, whose main gate faces West. This fact of facing West stimulated debates amongst scholars predicting it could have been a tomb of King Suryawarman II in the past. However, West also symbolizes Vishnu, hence Angkor Wat is also called to be a Vishnu temple. The towers have 3 storeys, with the tallest tower stands 35 m above the ground.
2. Bayon : unique temple with a lot of towers having faces sculpted onto them. It is said, those are faces of Jayavarman VII, one of the greatest kings of Angkor.
3. Preah Palilay : the 350m elephant terrace, ornamented with images of elephants, garuda bird and lions.
4. Phnom Bakheng : located on top of Bakheng hill, it contains of 7 steps, representing 7 heavens in Hindu beliefs. To reach the top, either by walking, one can do elephant-back riding. This temple is the perfect place to watch the Tonle Sap lake and Angkor Wat during sunset.
5. Banteay Srey : with its detailed ornaments, the temple is called Banteay Srey or the woman temple. Legends said that it was build either by or for women who admired details.
6. Preah Neak Pean : the temple used to be surrounded by moat. The moat was surrounded by 4 other smaller moats.
7. Ta Prohm : the famous one after Angkor Wat for being shot for Tomb Raider movie. Its uniqueness was the temple looked like being swollen by jungles. Big trunks of trees are everywhere. The old guy who takes care of the cleanliness of Ta Prohm, whose picture was taken for Lonely Planet guide book was still there when we visited. Most visitors wanted to take picture with him and then paid small amount to him.
8. Ta Som : similar to Ta Prohm, also swollen by jungles.


Poypet and Battambang
After 2 nights in Siem Reap, we headed to Phnom Penh by stopping by Poypet and Battambang. Poypet is located in the border to Thailand, and are dotted with casinos. We spent one night in Poypet and got a very good offer to stay in a nice and clean hotel by paying as little as 1000 baht. In fact, the hotel (as most hotels in Poypet) was also a casino, hence it must have wanted us to gamble. We did not, we just looked around, and played a bit of spinballs.

The next day, we spent night in Battambang, a charming town with colonial buildings. It is a second biggest city of Cambodia after Phnom Penh. In the past the city was once part of Thailand, but then returned to Cambodia with the help of the French. We stayed at one of the few hotels in Battambang, the name is Hotel Teo for about $10 per night.

Phnom Penh
It is the capital of Kingdom of Cambodia. It used to be one of the most beautiful cities in Asia. Due to very long civil war in Cambodia, the city was semi destroyed, leaving a semi developed feeling in a lot of places. However, one can still see the traces of its beauty, especially from the city planning and design which was based on design of french cities. The current mayor has done a terrific job in rejuvenating Phnom Penh: the river side is especially fabulous with side cafes along the Tonle Sap river.
Day 1 : we reached Phnom Penh in the afternoon, checked in Hotel Cambodiana. We went straight to Psar Toul Tom Pong which is famous for its souvenirs and handicrafts. We bought a nice miniature of Apsara stone ornament. In the evening, we strolled by foot along the Sisowath Quay (riverside area). We then had dinner at boutique hotel Amanjaya before going back to Cambodiana Hotel.
Day 2 : In the morning we went to Phsar Thmey or New Market. It has a unique art-deco design and is located right in the middle of the city. It is quite popular amongst tourists and locals, sells many things from clothes, electronics, food, flowers, books, etc. We continued our trip to the Royal Palace which is on Sisowath Quay. We paid $3 and extra $2 for camera. The front pavillion was originally used to receive royal guests. Inside, there is the throne hall, and a unique smaller building with french classical design which was gift from Napoleon II. The complex also has the Silver Pagoda whose front building houses Emerald Buddha statue. We then walked to Bali Restaurant for our lunch, as we already missed Indonesian food. We went back to Bangkok taking evening flight.